Irons 2 Chelsea 1
First and foremost – thank God for Andy Carroll!
Never mind top eight…never mind top six,..never mind top four – we’re in the TOP TWO this Saturday evening at 6 pm and will remain in the top three should Arsenal win in the late game.
So that’s Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea beaten- and if there any non believers left among the Hammers faithful that this is the best Hammers team in 30 years think again.
Not only is it the best team in over three decades it is becoming the most resilient and the most courageous under a manager who refuses to accept or respect a point – even against last year’s champions.
We had gone the goal up through a magnificent Mauto Zarate half volley in the 17th minute, Lanzini was forced to clear off the line a bit later before Adrian scrambled away a Wilian free kick.
But we were the better team throughout the first 45 minutes and the Argentine midfielder should have put us two up when put clear via a brilliant Payet flicked back heel. Sadly although clear on goal he could only fire over the top.
Things changed dramatically on half time when Matic was red carded after a second bookable offence. He blocked off Payet totally and the ref had no alternative after speaking to his assistant who was just yards away.
Incredibly, Fabregas and Costa were booked for dissent and Mourinho sent to the stand when trying to force his way into the referee’s room at half time.
All for nothing – the red was as clear cut as anything you will ever see on a football pitch.
Chelsea, not unexpectedly started at the gallop after the break as the Irons fell back and it was no surprise when they rattled in an equaliser via Cahill from a corner which might have been better defended.
Slav’s response was to throw on Carroll 10 minutes later a move immediately followed by a brilliant piece of Payet control followed by a volley across goal but AC couldn’t get there.
Ten minutes later though he was in exactly the right place as Cresswell crossed and although there wasn’t a huge amount of pace on the ball, Carroll rose to thud a header into the back of the net.
Chelsea pushed forward towards the end but apart from a speculative Wilian effort never really found any edge and as the Claret and Blue Army brought the house down on the final whistle we all knew something very special is going on at our wonderful club.
And it’s possible – just possible – the Irons have helped Mourinho towards the Stamford Bridge exit door
I owe Jenks and Ginge an apology because I would have dropped both of them but I was wrong,
Every week it will get harder for Slav,
Who do you drop next week,
Well done the whole squad,we can do this together,
Well done every fan that made a difference today,I listened and you were the 12th man today,
This is a great week for this club
We can win this title,we have beaten what’s above us
Btw,the ground was rocking today.Best atmosphere i can remember through a game for along time.I didnt want to leave.I was sat in my seat with a big smile on my face,lol
Song playing with Noble.Hmmm,i think that will only happen through injury circumstances.Who gets dropped to accomodate them both.Kouyate,Lanzini,Payet.Cant see it with all options available.
Evolution in football teams on the up & up happens.The lesser,weaker players fall by the way side.Sorry but i see Noble becoming a casualty if we are to progress.
Having to defend Noble here, his game is not about pace, never has been. But he is skipper for a reason. He covers a lot of ground and plays good passes most of the time.
I agree, he will have to earn his place in the side like everyone else now, but I can see Song playing with Noble, linking up play between our defense and our attacking midfielders.
Think that’s going to take a while ‘apply’.I followed the BBC’s commentary for a while and the pundits on there were almost choking trying to find a reason we were winning without admitting it was because we are a very good team.
According to then Zarate’s goal only happened because the Chelsea defence got themselves in a muddle.
People with their heads in the sand sometimes have great difficulty pulling it out.
One last thing. Isn’t it about time, those very vocal critics of our owners ate some crow.
They don’t have billions of Arab oil money or Russian mafia money but they’ve done a fantastic job with what they had
Careful guys with what you say about Noble.You will be sacrificed on a slab outside the ground by some of our fans,hahaha
This win was needed to bury all the previous mistakes at home !
That win will and should put to bed the doubters about our home form, our home form was all down to individual mistakes and not team performance !!!
To all you west ham supporters who doubted Bilic !!!
And the what you wish for club !!!!!!!
Here’s one hammer who is more than happy at what he wished for and more !!!!!
I wonder who will be on MOTD tonight,
Lawrenson , plug , Watford gap teeth ,
Bring em on !!!!!!!!!
COYI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!S
Moaninio is in big shi£ , couldn’t happen to a bigger piece of shi£ , I’m loving every second of it !!!!!!!!!!!
Well pleased for carol too !!!!!
That’s the second game in a row now that Andy’s proved the assertion I made even before he returned from injury. That was, that we should use him as an impact sub because of his style of play. My contention is that his style is perfect for creating havoc amongst a tiring defence.
I’m not sure the claim we wer’e the better team isn’t more enthusiasm than reality. Chelsea had the lions share of possession all through the game.
Good day for those who get so steamed up about Lawro. The only thing he got right was that it would be a rough game.
Don’t know how Slav is going to solve the Noble problem. He’s been a rock of loyalty but the fact is, these players we have now play a completely different style of game and in a few weeks we’ll have Song to add to the mix
I can’t see Noble keeping his spot once Song is fit. Although he made some good passes today he’s often taking too long on the ball and killing the momentum or not completing his pass.
Great result, with the chant “Your not special anymore” being a particular highlight for me.
Superb Victory!
What a set of reaukts we have had agqinst the big boys.Incredible.
Time the rest of the league sat up & took notice of Slaven & his Band of Brothers!!!
Sorry,im a l little drunk,hahaha,i ment ‘result’ & ‘ against’,haha.Still who gives a flying,lol
I suffered four relegations,countless false dawns and some gut wrenching defeats(2006 Cup Final) sticks in the gullet but this season is something so special. Pinch me,am I in a dream? Arsenal,Liverpool,Man City and now Chelsea put to the sword! and we derserved to win them all. So excited there really is something special going on at Upton Park and dare I say it I firmly believe it’s going to continue,we fear nobody and I may be castigated for saying this, we’ve had some world class players down through our history but I think this side is the best team/squad we have ever had ever!! Come on you beautiful Irons!!!!